Tomorrow, Sept. 11, I will turn 80. That really surprises me,
because I don’t feel that ancient.
Tomorrow, Sept. 11, I will turn 80. That really surprises me, because I don’t feel that ancient.
Nevertheless, from many intellectual sources, I hear the often repeated phrase, “History for each of us begins when we are born,” which means we may learn about history, but real history begins with each of us as we interpret the happenings during our lifetime.
Since my experience began in the 1930s, 80 years ago, I will interpret the following historical occurrences of my first 40 years when you weren’t around.
The Roosevelt Era
My history began in Enid, Okla. Shortly, after I was born, our country fell on hard times. This was the “Great Depression.” Fortunately, Franklin D. Roosevelt helped bring us back from the brink of catastrophe. He established the Works Progress Administration that helped build the internal structure of our nation … highways, bridges, etc. And, the Civilian Conservation Corps, built government and park facilities. In the 1930s, my father worked as a surveyor for the WPA.
My mother, father and I lived with my uncle and grandmother. My uncle owned the house, built in 1907. Fortunately, my uncle also owned a business which manufactured and sold propane tanks. Although in the midst of the depression, his business prospered.
The Dust Bowl
Growing up in the early 1940s, I became accustomed to mowing our yard. However, for most summers, the yard turned white and dried up. And, I didn’t have to mow.
Those torrid years started in 1930 and continued through 1936. In the worst year, 1936, 5,000 people died from heat-related causes. However, I distinctly remember the heat continuing into the 1940s, when I was old enough to mow.
Those also were the Dust Bowl years that devastated Oklahoma, Kansas and the Dakotas. Wells dried up, trees died and rivers went dry.
In his “Grapes Of Wrath,” John Steinbeck wrote of these farmers, the “Okies,” who traveled to California for a new life. Yet, 30 years later, this “Dust Bowl” was green from rain, rain, rain.
No, I am not a “global warming” advocate. I believe climate is cyclical.
World War II
By 1940, the country was beginning to recover from the economic crash of the 1930s. And, then came the great shock.
On Dec. 7, 1941, my aunt took me to see a Disney movie. When we left the theatre about 3 p.m., the streets were a buzz with, “We’re at war!”
This sneak attack on Pearl Harbor so incensed our nation that a huge massive buildup of national reserves developed. Young men went to war. Older men worked in the war effort. Even women worked in industry.
The war not only revived our nation from the “Dust Bowl” and the “Great Depression,” but propelled it into a patriotic, united country, where almost every adult was either in the armed service or working in a defense industry.
On an August 1945 afternoon, while listening to the radio in my bedroom, I remember hearing about the bombing of Hiroshima.
Doesn’t matter what people say who weren’t there. Citizens of our country cheered when they heard of the dropping of those bombs.
Japan had armed its populace as well as the military for an invasion. Millions and millions of people, ours and the Japanese, would have been killed in an invasion. Atomic bombs ended the war in days.
Shopping Centers
When World War II ended, the economy boomed. Before World War II, we had neighborhood stores and “downtowns” for the rest of our shopping. Sears, Penney’s, Woolworth’s and Montgomery Wards were always downtown. In the 1950s, entrepreneurs saw an opportunity and expanded shopping. Likewise, contractors saw their opportunity and began to build tracts of homes. Veterans were eligible to purchase homes with little down payment.
As the economy boomed, so did education. The GI Bill helped veterans attend college with monthly stipends for as many months as served in the military.
“Hippies”
Competing with these “good times” during the 1950s through 1980s were those “not so good” times. There were those with differing agendas. In San Francisco, the “Beat Generation” arose with Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and the “Beat Bookshop” of Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Bringing the “hip” philosophy to attention, were the “Pranksters” of Neil Cassady and Ken Kesey’s (“One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”) cross-country psychedelic trip in their Day-Glo colored school bus. These were the fore runners of the “hippies.”
Some of these 1960s “hippies,” who opposed the Vietnam War were people who “dropped out” of mainstream society and “tuned in” to drugs. In the 1970s, “Urban Guerillas” were abundant. The Symbionese Liberation Army kidnapped Patty Hearst and turned her into a SLA member, who robbed banks.
When I began I said, our history begins when we are born. We may learn about it before our time, but real history begins with each of us as we interpret events during our life.
Remember your history. You may reach 80.
Burton Anderson is a Purple Heart Korean War Marine veteran and the author of “We Claim The Title – Korean War Marines.” He can be reached at ba****@*ol.com.
